


Fame and Misfortune

by 4_D_Alien



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Android-Like Beings, Futuristic World, Mix of old Rome/Roman Politics & Futuristic Tech, Other, Sci-Fi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-15
Updated: 2020-07-15
Packaged: 2021-03-05 05:21:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,124
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25288993
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/4_D_Alien/pseuds/4_D_Alien
Summary: The distant future had changed humanity. Countries have merged, interstellar travel is commonplace, and non-humans walk in the midst of society. Neo-humans, known as Mechas and Augmenteds, are an integral part of both politics and the world as a whole. Seven unique men live in this new world, all gifted, all unaware of what's to come. Their leader, Qian Kun, must be awakened. He will be the catalyst that will set loose a reaction, one certain to shake the world to its core.We Are Your Vision. Shout the motto, spread the cause. The world cannot be changed if it does not fall first. Help us bring society to its knees.
Kudos: 1





	Fame and Misfortune

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there! This is the prologue to a fic I've been writing for awhile now, and it's the first multi-chaptered work I'll be posting on here! Depending on the reaction this gets, I may be uploading more, so please let me know what you think! Comments and kudos are always appreciated <3 Enjoy!

The unfamiliar grit of sand between his teeth was what dragged Kun out of slumber.

He blinked awake slowly, expecting to see his bedroom ceiling above his head, but instead gasped in shock at the shades of rose, gold, and deep violet that streaked a night sky thick with stars. Sand shifted across his body as he sat up, mouth agape at the gorgeous sunset sprawling across the horizon, dipping down into a glittering black ocean that stretched its fingers onto a pristine beach. Kun realized he was not wearing what he had fallen asleep in; the cloth was a bit rougher than he was used to, but he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the skies to check his apparel.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” A voice from off to his right nearly made Kun jump out of his skin, and he snapped his head around to face the speaker. His mouth went dry at the sight: an unearthly gorgeous man, with features sharp enough to cut steel, wearing a simple loose shirt and pants of a rough white cloth. The sunset wove warm colors through his honey-blond hair as he gazed out at the horizon, eyes fixed on some distant point. He sat about five feet to Kun’s right, knees slightly bent, with his arms extended behind him, propping him up against the sand. His expression bore no visible hostility, and neither did his body language; for all the world, he could’ve just been a tourist observing the sky.

Kun swallowed hard, attempting to regain his composure. “W-who are you? Where am I?’ He mentally cursed himself for the stutter, but the man only gave him a small smile. 

“Where I’m from, names have no meaning, but those close to me call me Taeyong. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Qian Kun.” He turned his head to smile warmly at Kun, but the latter was immediately entranced by the man’s eyes. At first, they seemed warm and welcoming, but upon closer inspection, Kun realized they were literally glowing. The light was dim, but it smoldered like Taeyong had embers trapped in his irises. As he faced the strange man, Kun felt an incredible sense of peace wash over him, like a wave gently breaking the shore. For some inexplicable reason, Kun felt that this man was trustworthy.

“To answer your second question, this is a dream. You aren’t really here. As to the physical location...I’m not quite sure. I don’t know if this even is a real place. But I called you here for a reason, Kun.” His lopsided grin slowly faded, replaced by an expression Kun didn’t have a name for. “I know what your next question is going to be. How do I know your name? Why were you called here? Well, Kun, I’ve had my eye on you for a very long time. I think you have what I’m looking for.”

Kun sat, agape, as this mysterious man started to get even more complex, his rich vocal tones both confusing his mind and making him think sharper at the same time. The sunset suddenly twisted and crumpled, the world around him becoming a kaleidoscope of swirling colors, engulfing him and Taeyong and obscuring his vision. As he cried out in confusion, trying to clear his eyes, Kun heard Taeyong’s voice dance by him on the breeze that had sprung up, though he could not see him anymore: “See you later, Qian Kun. I look forward to meeting you again…” 

The ground suddenly gave out from underneath him, and he fell through an endless void back into his bedroom, jolting awake an hour before his alarm was supposed to go off. A soft beeping noise resonated from his chest up to his eardrums, and he pawed at the loose shirt he always wore to sleep, ripping it off to see a small LED indicator softly pulsing bright red on his right pectoral. He scrambled around on his bedside table for a small black cartridge, cursing under his breath when he couldn’t feel it in the dark. 

“Oh, come on…” he grumbled, finally just flipping on the lamp and searching for it, his heartbeat steadily increasing the faster the beeping sounded. Finally spotting it on the floor, Kun swung his legs over the edge of the bed and grabbed it, smacking at the inside of his left arm. A tiny compartment slid open in the crook of his elbow without a sound, and Kun jammed the cartridge in, pressing the flesh-colored hinge back into the rest of his skin. A jolt ran through his body and he sighed, the beeping slowly dying down in time with his heart rate. The LED flashed once, twice more, then faded from a glaring red to a soft coral pink. That was close… 

Blowing hair out of his eyes, Kun squinted at his alarm clock and groaned, rubbing a hand over his face. “I might as well get up now…” he grumbled to himself, grabbing his shirt and slipping it back over his head. He stood up, almost losing his balance as his vision blacked out for a few seconds, but quickly blinked it away and moved on, his body moving around his spacious apartment on autopilot. Stupid iron deficiency, he thought, then paused as he stepped in the shower, confusion freezing him in place. “I don’t have an iron deficiency,” he said aloud, his thoughts speeding up to a thousand miles per hour. His brain immediately told him run a diagnostic, so he did, his entire body locking up for exactly three and a half seconds while the gears turned in his head. After those three and a half seconds, Kun blinked back to reality, utterly confused. “I don’t have an iron deficiency,” he repeated slowly, trying to comprehend his own words. The diagnostic had revealed no abnormalities in his bodily functions. What, then, had caused that dizzy spell? Kun puzzled over it for a few minutes longer, then put it to the back of his mind and stepped into the shower, his thoughts returning to the bizarre dream he had been trapped in just a few minutes ago. Mindlessly, he began stripping down, freezing when he pulled his pants off and a small shower of white sand particles fell from the folds of cloth. His mind jumped into overtime, thoughts racing to keep up with one another. So it was real, he realized, starting to get overwhelmed by the sheer implications of such a scenario. When he finally left for work an hour later, his brain still buzzed with tightly entangled trains of thought, and he knew he wouldn’t be able to focus for the rest of the day. What is happening to me?...


End file.
